About SELS

Student English Language Support (SELS) is part of the Minnesota English Language Program (MELP) and offers free one-on-one English as a Second Language (ESL) consultations to international undergraduate students at the University of Minnesota.  In a 45-minute consultation, students can work with experienced consultants, who are current students or graduates of the MA program in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) at the U of M.

SELS is designed for students who want to develop a particular aspect of their English skills to be more successful at the University, who have a specific question about learning English, or who need resources for improving English skills.   In a consultation, the student can work on the goals they set related to English. 

SELS consultants provide individualized help for improving...

• speaking skills for giving presentations, participating in class discussions, and communicating with instructors and classmates

• grammar in speaking and writing

• listening comprehension of class lectures and discussions

• reading comprehension of academic texts

• vocabulary development

• pronunciation

• intercultural communication and pragmatics

• adapting to US culture

• other English and culture-related topics

Drop-in hours are also sometimes available in University Libraries but are not being offered this year.